travvyishot wrote:bjork is 2 things. first thing is her voice. i havent met many people who argue that shes an incredible singer.. but its a matter of taste i guess. personally i think shes the best singer in the world
I really don't intend to argue with that. As travvyishot carefully mentioned in his/her post, it's a personal feeling, and I definitely agree with the fact Björk is a true great singer with a very personal voice and a high degree of recognition. For me, she definitely "invented" a very free way to sing, she was unarguably a "new voice" when she appeared. But I also think no-one ever really creates something out of nothing and Björk was vocally inspired by several singers, many of which will be described here.
The only thing that made me a little cringe was that "best singer in the world" label. So I decided to open that thread to mention other female voices which might balance that fact, voices that definitely impressed me, many of them appeared before Björk, many of them with much more impressing vocal qualities.
So let's share those impressing voices considering it can be very hard to decide one of them could be "the best singer in the world", but undoubtedly ones that brought something different in the world of music.
First, I will mention a classically trained french voice, for me one of the best soprano coloratura I've ever heard. Her voice is just amazing! Try to listen to this till the last notes which are, well... unbelievable to really appreciate the exceptional qualities of this range.
Nathalie Dessay in "L'air des clochettes" (one of the most complex aria with Mozart's Queen of the Night Aria) in "Lakme" by Leo Delibes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmYRQWYlDbM
Nathalie Dessay is also a very nice, funny and humble woman whose aim is to make opera accessible to everyone. With other opera singers, she created a kind of movement to make it available to many people.
But of course, this exceptional register cannot be compared with any un-trained voice such as Björk's, it would be unfair...
So from now on, I'll just be dealing with natural voices which has nothing to envy to the icelandic organ as well as technical side or in terms of originality.
Many Jazz singers are very impressive, but for me no-one can equal Billie Holiday's voice in terms of emotional power. Here's one of the last songs she recorded. Her voice was just destroyed at the time (something like a year later Billie would die...), but still there's nothing like it. You can find that in "Lady in Satin", my favourite recording of hers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYUdp8B68W0
Isn't this voice a true proof of inspiration in Joanna Newsom's singing?
Then, there is this astounding voice coming from Peru. It sounds like a classically trained voice, but Yma Sumac explored many genres instead of opera, even avant-garde.
She later became a true influence for later singers such as Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen, Lisa Gerrard or Diamanda Galas. It's so obvious on this song "Chuncho":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KprLT-JxPY
Then came the era of rock then pop and folk. Women were put apart from this during a long time and the folk movement first enabled women to emerge with a definite personality (of course women like Janis Joplin, Carole King and Grace Slick brought something new in the music business, but none of them ever really impressed me). So women like Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and Laura Nyro were really the pioneers of that time. I'll let others praise the vocal qualities of Joni and Joan as I'm not really into what they did (I prefer to restraint myself to things I really like), but Laura Nyro's voice is definitely something I'll display on my personal selection of great voices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjdowef1oKE
But for me, the first real voice to bring something new and different in the feminine side of pop in an impressing way was Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac:
"Storms" is maybe not my favourite song oh hers, but it can make me cry only on the basis of the vocals power. There are so many nuances of emotions in this song. It sounds like she's about to cry, but she just stands:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fzu1HDSOgE
But "Gold dust woman" is probably more impressive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygj7tawGiug
An interesting vocal case now, not because of her vocal qualities which are rather average, but in the way she delivers the words, the strength she's able to give to a message by sometimes just mixing talking with singing. Even now, there's no-one like her. What she achieved in "Land" on this wonderful rock debut which was "Horses" put, for me, Patti Smith in the status of the best female singers, not for her voice, but for her singing which is unique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxGAoZJzNAI
But all these women are ones I discovered later after my first shock. In 1978, when I first heard a strange and high-pitched wailing coming out from my radio on a winter's sunday night, I first thought it was a joke. I just couldn't visualize who might sing with such a voice, I couldn't even imagine it was a real voice. It really sounded like a fake to me, nothing really human. After some time, I realised THIS voice would open many doors to me. I felt like being trapped and I'm not the only one who felt there had never been anyone like Kate Bush before. It was of course "Wuthering Heights", and still now I don't think anyone could ever produce such a feeling of uniqueness in my musical approach, "The Milk-Eyed Mender" might be the only possible exception...
So I won't bother anyone with KB once again, I'll just give 2 examples of what she can do vocally. First a live and simple rendition of her beautiful and unique vocal sound, then a studio recording which shows how Björk herself might have been influenced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZiadb3bpOI
As "Get out of my house" was inspired by "The Shining" movie by Kubrick, I found this clip which perfectly sumps up the atmosphere of the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJyp5HaPj68
So once Kate Bush had appeared, all together with the punk movement, it seemed a new wave of female singers with excentric and powerful voices could make their way. The 80's was definitely the ideal decade for women new voices and many of the ones that follow were for me a true inspiration for Björk too (especially Lene Lovich for the Sugarcubes era and Elizabeth Fraser. I didn't include Siouxsie Sioux as I don't think she's such a great voice, but she definitely influenced Björk's singing allthough she never publicly admitted it...).
First Lene Lovich who was an impressive singer, inspired herself vocally by Yma Sumac and Patti Smith:
Unfortunately, she was not lucky enough to have a long term carreer, but still now "Stateless", her debut album, sounds like nothing you could hear. It still sounds new and fresh (unless you find it):
Here's "Bird Song" which is from her second album "Flex", more dramatic than her debut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivj9zqkgBjQ
Her friend Nina Hagen from Germany was also a great singer. She used an opera voice she mixed with various vocal effects. Here are two examples of what she could do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldbK0d2Wa-g
The second song "Antiworld" is taken from a unique album that really sounds like nothing else vocally. Some might find it unbearable. I wouldn't argue with that, but it's also one of the most impressive albums I know concerning what a human voice can do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FldxBv9qVmg (with lyrics. Very strange lyrics! )
At the same period, in England, a singer called Toyah Willcox, with a less impressive voice (but famous for her lisp and including screams to her singing), followed the path of those crazy/excentric/hysterical voices. Also included in the punk movement, she released several albums much less interesting than Lovich or Hagen's. But Björk might have heard of her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BlZbkuPg3A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCF9Qu9BHoc
Someone like like Diamanda Galas (another great voice! But she really scares me...) was inspired by this wave of vocal weirdos.
Then, later in the 80's, female voices were definitely very successful. Some incredible voices began to emerge. Two of them were really influential (many other girls tried to imitate their styles in Europe) and still stand as two of the most important and distinctive voices. They were often associated allthough their voices were very different. But they belonged to the same record label (4AD) which was a real treat for female voices: Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance. Both really invented something new, original ways of singing, definitely unusual voices.
Elizabeth fraser:
Called "The Voice of God" by the english music press. Probably the voice that most touches me emotionnally. She mixes 2 kinds of voices. One being low and kind of metallic, the other very high and ethereal. She's at her best when she mixes those two voices in several vocal layers, in some kind of voice orchestra. Of course, the effect is impossible to reproduce in a live situation, but I was lucky enough to see Cocteau Twins on stage 4 times and even if it had to be different, that girl could send shivers down your spine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhULGieoDR4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crOyEXnt83U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihWxui10blo
Björk must have listened to her too.
And Lisa Gerrard:
I saw many people (and female singers) in a live situation, but Lisa Gerrard is probably the voice that impressed me most. A very rare voice, not only for a technical side (she's astounding really!) but emotionnally, except Liz Fraser, there's really no-one like her. Now, her music became boring (but still her voice is so amazing!). Dead can Dance and Lisa's first solo concerts are among the best live experiences I've ever witnessed. Just listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXsxYf2UMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84847xNDh4
In the late 80's, I also liked Harriett Wheeler of The Sundays and Carolyne Crawley of Shelleyan Orphan. Then Björk came along.
EDIT:
Of course, I forgot another great voice and great woman but here she is: Sinead O'Connor:
Any song could do, but "Troy" is so special:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu7n0ccyywY
I really liked Tori Amos first 3 albums (mainly because she reminded me of Kate Bush I must admit, but also for her songwriting...). From then on, it seemed no other woman voice could really move me the same way the ones described above did.
But when Miss Newsom released "TMEM", I felt trapped again!
Just to say I feel unable to decide which of the women mentionned above might be the best singer of the world. All I know is each one of them belongs to some kind of "vocal aristocracy" and I'm glad each of them exists, no matter successfull they were or still are.
I probably forgot to mention some other interesting voices. For me, here are my favourite ones. Please, tell us about yours.
Of course, this thread is not only about female voices. I might later tell about some male voices I find particularly interesting...